PRETORIA

2937

PRICKLY PEAR

PRETO'RIA, TRANSVAAL, the adminis-
trative capital of the Union of South Africa,
and capital of the province of the Transvaal,
is situated on the Aapies Biver, forty-six
miles by rail northeast of Johannesburg. It
has broad streets lined with shade trees,
and many substantial buildings. The most
important structures are the former Par-
liament House, the government offices, the
postoffice and the University College Li-
brary. The city was founded in 1855 and
named for the Boer leader, Andries Pre-
torius. When the Union of South Africa was
formed, Cape Town and Pretoria were rivals
for the honor of becoming the capital. The
contest was settled by making Pretoria the
seat of administration, and Cape Town the
seat of legislation. Population, European,
1931, 62,138.

PREVAIL'ESra WESTERLIES, the pre-
vailing winds of the temperate zones. In the
northern hemisphere these winds blow to-
wards the southeast; in the southern hemi-
sphere they have a northeasterly direction.
South of the equator between the fortieth and
sixtieth parallels, these winds attain such a
tremendous velocity that sailors call them the
"roaring forties." North of the equator,
however, interrupted by the great land
masses, especially by the mountains, and by
cyclonic disturbances, they do not blow in a
steady gale, and often they lose their iden-
tity altogether. However, when general
weather conditions are normal one can almost
always detect an eastward movement of the
highest clouds, due to- these winds. See
WIND; TRADE WINDS.

PRIAM, in Greek legend, the last king of
Troy, the son of Laomedon. By his second
wife, Hecuba, he had, according to Homer,
nineteen children, among them Hector, Paris,
Cassandra and Troilus. His name has been
rendered famous by the tragic fate of his en-
tire family, as a result of the Trojan War.
Homer gives no account of the death of
Priain, but other poets relate that he was
slain by the son of Achilles when Troy fell
into the hands of the Greeks. See TROT.

PRIBILOF, pribelof, ISLANDS, the
home of the fur seal, a group of small vol-
canic islands on the coast of Alaska, in
Bering Sea. They belong to the United
States and are named for their discoverer.
The islands are isolated and surrounded by
fog, which doubtless is the reason the fur
seal selects these grounds for breeding pur-

poses. In 1868 the Pribilofs were made a
fur-seal reservation. Because of the nature
of the fur-seal industry, total abstinence of
the people is required. Accordingly, in 1915
the government made the islands prohibition
territory, and every kind of intoxicating
liquor is prohibited.

PRICK'LY ASH, a group of North Amer-
ican shrubs and small trees belonging to the
rue family. The leaves resemble those of the
ash, the twigs bear prickles, and the bark has
a stinging taste. The bark of one southern
species is chewed by the negroes as a remedy
for toothache, and the tree is locally known
as toothache tree.

PRICKLY PEAR, or INDIAN FIG, a
name given to an American genus of cacti
containing about 150 different species, most
of which grow in the southwestern part of
the United States. The common prickly
pear is a perennial and bears yearly, between
June and October, beautiful, showy, solitary
flowers, sometimes red or white, but usually
yellow and about three inches in diameter.

PRICKLY PEAR
The cochineal cactus.
The stem is composed of flat, oval joints,
which grow in zigzag formation and are leaf-
less, but covered with sharp spines. Some
species, as the Indian fig, found in dry, sub-
tropical regions, where few other plants will
grow, bear nutritious fruit.
This plant is an interesting example of
adaptability to environment and of the law
of survival of the .fittest. La the desert re-